The invention relates to an arrangement of two rail segments consisting of at least one holding element disposed on each rail segment and of at least one connecting means in contact with the holding elements, by which connecting means the rail segments can be connected to each other at their end faces, wherein each holding element is attached to the respective rail segment via a weld seam.
Self-supporting tubular tracks for suspended railways, suspension cranes and the like are known, being composed, in cross-section, of e.g. two thin-walled profiles disposed symmetrically with respect to the vertical longitudinal middle plane. The track forms a travel path for the suspended railways, for which purpose a plurality of track segments are connected in abutment at their rail ends. For this purpose sleeves are attached to the rail ends and receive screw bolts extending in the longitudinal direction of the rail and connecting the track segments to each other. The sleeves are welded to the rails on the outside over their longitudinal extension. Corresponding connections are known from the German patent DE 1 249 301, the German utility model DE 93 10 593 U1 and the German laid-open document DE 41 09 051 A1.
Furthermore, the connection of I-shaped rails to each other via corresponding sleeves is known from the German laid-open document DE 33 26 103 A1. In that case the sleeves are welded to an underside of a lower flange of the I-shaped rail. The weld seam between the underside of the rail and the respective sleeve extends essentially as a rectangle along the long sides and the end faces of the respective sleeve.
In contrast to cuffs (DE 299 03 470 U1) or distributed connecting arrangements (DE 103 37 121 B3 or DE 10 2006 058 422 A1) this type of abutment connection has proved its value because it is simple and effective and does not impede the travel path.
However, there is still a desire for a connection which transmits severe bending moments in the event of dynamic loading and generally supports heavy loading, since the overall carrying capacity definitively depends on this.